[SleazyRider]

I'm happy with the trigger break on my Pietta 1860 Army revolver, but find the creep excessive. Does anybody have any experience installing a set screw in the trigger or adjusting the creep in any way?

[72coupe]

That adjustment is done with a stone and patience.

[craiso]

I put a brass pin on the trigger of my 1851 Navy in .44 to prevent excessive over-travel. I have heard of taking JB weld and building up the back of the trigger near the sear. "Reshaping" the bearing surfaces between the trigger and hammer can take the slop out of the movement. I don't remember where, but I saw a jig that someone made that simulated the working action so that mods like this could be done. If you have the time... could be useful. :D

[SleazyRider]

I have heard of taking JB weld and building up the back of the trigger near the sear.
Yes, I've heard of this as well, but I distrust it for some reason. This is precisely the point at which I was considering installing the set screw, for a more positive adjustment.
I haven't even considered overtravel, but that is worth looking into, and I appreciate your suggestion.

[SleazyRider]

That adjustment is done with a stone and patience.
Does that adjust the creep, or the actual trigger break? I'm quite happy with the break/weight; it's the length that the trigger needs to travel prior to the break that I wish to shorten. Perhaps I referred to it as "creep" in error.

[Hammerdown77]

I'd highly recommend the Kuhnhausen book on the Colt Single Action Army. It goes into great detail on how to adjust the trigger sear angles to affect engagement. Having a stoning jig will help.

Or, get a SAA pro to do it for less than you'd spend on the jig, book, and tools...

[Hammerdown77]

Does that adjust the creep, or the actual trigger break? I'm quite happy with the break/weight; it's the length that the trigger needs to travel prior to the break that I wish to shorten. Perhaps I referred to it as "creep" in error.

It will potentially adjust both. Creep is an issue of angles and engagement surfaces. Weight is influenced by those and by spring weights, to some extent.

My 1860 Army (Pietta) also had a mile of creep, but a very light trigger pull.

[SleazyRider]

I appreciate the replies. Just ordered the Kuhnhausen books, and I'm pretty well equipped with stones, jigs, and ... patience. I'm looking forward to learning something new!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

You really need to buy the Kuhnhausen book to understand the process of stoning a hammer notch and sear. You can buy it from Amazon, and many other places. Here is a link to buying the book directly from the author.

http://www.gunbooks.com/colt_sa.html

Stoning a hammer and sear to remove creep but still keep the trigger pull light and crisp is a matter of very carefully removing metal from the vertical face of the hammer full cock notch WITHOUT changing the angles at all. What you are doing is shortening the distance the sear has to travel to slide out of the full cock notch. But it is extremely important that the engagement angles not be changed, as that can easily result in making the gun unsafe.

This is the type of jig that is being referred to here. The idea is that the trigger or hammer is placed in the adaptor to the left. The pins are oriented to keep either the hammer or the trigger at the correct angle. Then you lower or raise the roller on the right the proper amount as dictated in the instructions. The stone is then placed on top bridging the roller and the contact surface you are stoning. The roller allows you to work the stone back and forth while maintaining the proper angle. To work on different guns you buy different adaptors.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=9853/Make-Model_1038=Colt|Single+Action+Army/Product/SERIES-I-STONING-FIXTURE#skugrid

Unfortunately, the adaptors are very specific to each type of gun. The adaptor shown is for the SAA and most clones. I suspect that the 1860 hammer and trigger geometry may be different enough that the SAA adaptor will not work, and there is nothing specifically made for the 1860 revolver.

Smiths have stoned hammers and triggers for many years before these adaptors were produced, but it required skill and considerable practice to do it correctly without ruining the parts.

If nothing else, the book is certainly worth buying to give you an over view of many SAA smithing techniques that will carry over to the 1860.